Countywide : Child Support Amnesty Offer Poorly Received

Only two people took advantage of a two-month amnesty program for parents who fail to make child support payments, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

About 12,000 of the county’s approximately 20,000 parents under court order to pay child support were determined to be delinquent in their payments but Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard E. Fulton stressed that many of those are people only a few weeks behind. “They’ve got until 4:30 this afternoon to come in here and take advantage of it,” he said Friday. “After that, it will be business as usual.”

He said “four or five” delinquent parents had contacted his office to attempt to make some arrangements but were unable to pay the full amount. For example, one man who owes about $1,000 agreed to make $50 monthly payments.

Although the amount collected in July --about $2,241,000--was about $223,000 more than in July, 1984, Fulton said the increase probably has little to do with the amnesty program. He said the total number of cases increases each year, and more sophisticated collection techniques have made the figure rise each month for several years. “As far as Orange County is concerned, we haven’t had too good a turnout,” he said.

Ventura, Riverside, Kern, Santa Cruz and Sacramento counties also participated in the amnesty experiment. The best results in Southern California were in Ventura County, despite the fact that delinquent parents weren’t granted amnesty there but merely told they wouldn’t be jailed pending court appearances.

“For a number of people that’s a distinct attraction,” said Stan Trom, director of child support services for the Ventura district attorney’s office. He said about 100 people turned themselves in on arrest warrants.

However, Riverside County Assistant Dist. Atty. John Replogle said the program “didn’t even make a substantial ripple here.” Ten people were granted amnesty, and Replogle said arrests on 70 outstanding warrants will begin next week.

Penalties for failure to pay child support can be as high as a $2,000 fine and one year in jail.